Memory of a Dream
by zephakitara
Summary: 'And I was so taken in by your voice, Hitomi... by you.' - Two young hearts new to love. This is the beginning of Hitomi and Van's love story. (Please note that this is a short continuation to my previous one-shot, Take My Hands.)
1. Chapter 1: A Nostalgic Tune

**Chapter 1**

 **A Nostalgic Tune**

'No one is going to leave you.'

* * *

In the still of the warm, quiet night, Folken stood unmoving in the dark hallway in front of his brother's bedroom door. Only a strip of his face was visible, showered by the soft orange light of Van's night lamp.

He peeked into his brother's bedroom through the door that stood slightly ajar.

Through the sliver of opening, he saw Van tossing about in his bed, fists tightly gripping the bedsheet, a damp white cloth that was placed upon his forehead had long slipped onto the sweat-drenched pillow. Every now and then, the man at the door heard guttural grunts coming out of Van as if he was in agony.

Folken placed a hand that was stained with swatches of paint on the door, contemplating on whether to check on his brother or to leave him be. After all, Van had told him not to simply stroll into his room whenever he felt like it.

He finally pushed open the door a little wider to let himself in when he heard Van mumbling, muttering incoherent words in his sleep.

He was mindful to not make any noise as he took soundless steps towards his brother, carefully side-stepping the little carving tools that lay scattered in the middle of Van's untidy room as his brother's whispered words reached his ears.

'Hitomi… please…'

Folken stood at the side of Van's bed, watching him; the sweat-beaded brows, the parted dry lips letting out soft groans, the distressed look on his face. He wondered what was it Van was seeing in his dream to make him sound so desperate and heartbroken.

'Please… I'm your…' Van let out a laboured breath, turning around in his bed, his arms reaching out a little, his long fingers trembling, 'white-winged…'

Folken knelt by the bed with some concern when Van seemed to be suddenly gasping for air, his eyebrows furrowed together as a hot tear rolled out of the corner of his closed eye.

'I am… King of… Fanelia…'

With a mix of astonishment and anxiety, Folken stared a little fascinatedly at the lone tear making its way down Van's flushed cheek. He was suddenly struck with the realization that he hadn't seen Van cried in years.

His brother used to cry a lot when he was very little; for one reason or another, he would come running into his older brother's arms with tears streaming down his face, wailing, his small body quaking.

Folken would then hold him consolingly, rocking him softly back and forth like a loving mother would, saying everything will be alright until Van had stopped sobbing and calmed down, finally looking up and giving his doting older brother a charming smile that never failed to warm his heart.

The older brother now looked concernedly at the young man's face sleeping fitfully in front of him, wishing it wasn't covered in so much pain and anguish like it was at the moment.

'Van,' Folken called out his younger brother's name softly as he placed a soothing hand on Van's heaving chest.

Promptly, Van's hot and sweaty hand grabbed his brother's, clutching at it like he was drowning in a violent open sea, the crushing waves threatening to swallow him whole, leaving no trace of his existence, and his brother's hand was his only lifeline, his only hope to stay alive. His grip was so strong, so desperate, it would leave deep, red nail marks on Folken's hand for days.

'Don't leave me…' Van breathed, his raspy, sorrow-laden voice was barely above whisper. 'Please…'

Folken stared at Van who was very much still deep within his dream.

Gently, he wiped away another hot tear that had escaped Van's closed eye, feeling a little alarmed at his brother's rueful, unconscious pleadings. He had never heard him sound so hurt like this, like he was suffering in the most horrific way.

'It's alright, Van. I'm here. Your brother's here. No one is going to leave you,' he whispered to Van in that deep, reassuring voice of his as he lovingly pushed back his brother's messy bangs from his sweat-covered face.

Van seemed to calm down a little at his older brother's cool touch against his feverish, sweaty skin, at his comforting words in his ear, at the rumble of his solacing voice pulling him out of the rough seas, out of his terrific nightmare. The frown on his face slowly disappeared and his ragged breathing began to even out.

Folken started whistling a tune softly. It was a tune their late mother used to whistle to him when he was little, when Van wasn't yet born. When she died years ago leaving behind a teenage Folken and a very young Van, Folken would lull his younger brother to sleep with the tune. It felt nostalgic; he hadn't whistled it to Van in such a long time.

In a short while, Van had quieted down like a sleeping baby. He wasn't stirring about in his bed anymore, and no more heart-wrenching groans came out from between his chapped lips.

Folken watched Van's now serene sleeping face, feeling his brother's tight hold of his hand gradually loosening. Van had finally drifted into a tranquil, undisturbed sleep.

'What's going on in your dream, kiddo?' he whispered as he silently pulled his hand away from Van's chest, watching his peaceful sleeping face for a moment more.

A soft mewling at his knees made him look to see a little brown cat with black stripes along her tail and legs staring up at him, her big blue eyes almost imploring. Folken found himself smiling at the sight of the feline.

'You're worried about him too, Merle?' he asked, patting the cat on the head fondly.

The cat meowed in reply before jumping onto Van's bed and devotedly licked the young man's tear-stained face. When she thought she had done a good job cleaning it up, the cat then curled herself snugly in the warm crook of Van's neck, purring and looking contented. Folken scratched the cat with a finger along her furry jaw for a while, watching her close her eyes with pleasure, smiling a little at the girly pink collar Van had loosely put on around her neck.

'Keep him company tonight, okay, Merle?' he patted the cat lightly as she meowed at him with half-lidded sleepy eyes. 'Please make sure Van doesn't have anymore nightmares.'

Before he left Van's side, Folken smoothed over his brother's unruly hair one last time.

'Good night, Van.'

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

* * *

Next chapter:

 **The Hands That Care**

'Your hands, they are like my brother's… so soothing, so caring.'

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Hello! Thank you for reading _Memory of a Dream_. If you haven't noticed, this is a direct continuation to my previous one-shot, _Take My Hands_. I guess you can still read this without reading the one-shot first, but there might be some things that may not make sense. I know I should have just added the newer chapters to the one-shot, but I want _Take My Hands_ to stay a one-shot. So I decided to put together the new chapters under a new title. I hope you enjoy reading _Memory of a Dream_!


	2. Chapter 2: The Hands That Care

**Chapter 2**

 **The Hands That Care**

'Your hands, they are like my brother's… so soothing, so caring.'

* * *

Hitomi watched the clouds slowly parading in the pink and orange-tinged evening sky from the opened window of her deserted classroom.

A lovely scenery such as this never failed to cheer her up and put a smile on her face, but not this time. She was feeling miserable the whole week because someone didn't show up at school since last Friday.

She missed him.

She had been missing him since she last saw him walking away in the rain.

'Hitomi!'

She looked out of the window and saw Yukari making her way across the school grounds, jogging towards the school building where their classroom was, waving cheerfully, if not a little too energetically up at her.

Hitomi waved back at her friend with a smile.

She was glad she went for track practice today. It helped took her mind off of Van a little, if only for a while. For days now, all she could think of was him and his voice, and his russet eyes, and his smile, and it was driving her crazy.

'I'll be there in a minute, okay?' Yukari's voice drifted up to the opened window from three stories below.

'Take your time, Yukari!' Hitomi called back to her, watching her friend skipped her way blissfully towards the building's main entrance.

She smiled at how happy Yukari seemed these days. She and Amano were really in love with each other from the look of it. Hitomi had tactfully left the two of them alone at the school tracks after practice was over, giving Yukari an encouraging wink as she left the tracks. She had then let her tired legs led her to their classroom as she cheerfully congratulated herself for being such a good friend.

But her good mood slowly faded away as she sat alone at her desk in the empty classroom, staring at the evening sky but not actually seeing it because in her eyes all she could see was Van disappearing in the rain.

She let out a sigh as she got up from her assigned seat and sat herself at the one in front of hers.

Van's desk was unexpectedly full of doodles, and there were also a number of wonderfully drawn cats, much to Hitomi's surprise. She didn't know Van was good at art. A smile crept onto her face as she traced the drawings lovingly with the tip of her fingers.

'So this is what you do whenever you have to listen to me and Yukari gossip, you vandalizing Van,' she giggled, the tinkle of her voice sounding loud in the quiet room.

Just moments later, the classroom door opened with a quiet slide and Yukari appeared with a huge grin on her face.

'Thank you, Hitomi,' she sang gleefully, twirling her way towards her friend who was amusedly watching her. 'I have a date with Amano this Sunday!'

Hitomi's face brightened up at the news.

'Way to go, Yukari!'

'Oh, I don't know if I have anything nice to wear.'

Hitomi scoffed at the familiar words coming out of Yukari's mouth.

'I'm sure there's something in your closet that would be perfect for the date,' she said with a small laugh.

Yukari stopped her delighted squeals when she realized Hitomi was sitting at Van's desk with a rather gloomy look on her face.

'Hey, Hitomi. You miss him?' she asked, her eyes following Hitomi's fingers which were tracing one of the drawn cats on Van's desk. She then went to sit at her own desk, turning her chair around so she could face her friend.

Hitomi didn't have to ask to know who she was referring to.

'... Yeah.'

Yukari smiled.

Hitomi had told her what happened with Van at the library last Friday, and she was actually overjoyed that there was finally progress, although not much, in their relationship. It was a start, at least. Somehow, she had been rooting for Hitomi and Van to be together ever since she realized the two of them might have feelings for each other.

'I wonder what happened to him,' Hitomi said softly, casting her gaze out of the window.

Today was Thursday. Van hadn't showed up at school since last Friday, and no one seemed to know what happened to him.

'Don't worry too much about it, Hitomi. I'm sure Van just caught a cold or something. He'll be back,' Yukari said reassuringly when she saw the worried look on her friend's face.

'I don't know. Somehow, I never thought that Van could catch a cold. I mean, he doesn't look like someone who could catch one, don't you think?' Hitomi said, placing her head on the desk, dolefully looking up at the darkening sky.

Yukari laughed at her words.

'What are you saying, Hitomi? Van is just a normal guy. Of course he'll get sick once in a while.'

'Yeah, he might be at home feeling sick, or he might have flown away somewhere far away with that beautiful white wings of his,' she said dreamily, much to Yukari's confusion.

'White wings? What are you talking about, Hitomi?' Yukari asked curiously, peering at her friend's face to check if she was actually asleep.

Hitomi sat up in her chair and shook her head, giving her friend a small smile.

For some reason, she had never talked to Yukari about those white wings she kept imagining spreading from Van's back. She felt that Van would not want anyone to know about his wings if he really had them, no matter how absurd the thought of him spreading wings in real-life was.

Yukari patted her friend's hand with a comforting smile.

'Van will come to school tomorrow, Hitomi. Trust me, I know it. So don't worry so much,' she said as she stood up and grabbed her bag. 'Let's go home, okay? It's getting dark.'

Hitomi nodded, reaching for her own bag as she left her desk.

'Oh, hold on, Yukari,' she suddenly quipped when they were almost at the classroom door.

She sauntered back to her seat to grab Van's white umbrella hooked at the side of her desk. She had been bringing it back and forth to school in hopes of returning it to its owner.

 _I'll return this to Van when he comes to school tomorrow._

She gripped the umbrella tightly with determination and headed home with the hope that Yukari's words will come true.

.o.o.o.

Yukari was wrong in her prediction.

Van didn't show up at school the next day, much to Hitomi's disappointment. She sat staring at Van's empty seat with her chin on her desk, listening to the drawling voice of Mr Asahi that went on and on.

Having History lessons first thing in the morning really wasn't the best way to start a school day. The old man's words went in through her right ear and exited through her left without her making any sense of what he was talking about.

She glanced at the clock hung above the blackboard at the front of the class. Nine thirty. Five more minutes until the end of first period. She closed her eyes and prayed that when she opened them, she would hear the ringing of the bell, telling her first period has ended. Seriously, the old man's voice was putting her to sleep.

When she opened her eyes, it wasn't the bell she heard. Instead, it was the rather loud bang of the classroom door opening.

Van strolled into the class looking like he had just gotten out of bed; his hair was a little messier than it usually was, his white school shirt was half untucked, his sleeves rolled up to the elbows, exposing lean, wiry arms. He didn't even bother putting on his school tie, which he had wrapped loosely around one hand like a makeshift bandage.

Hitomi stared at him, open-mouthed. Ignoring the sudden loud, quick heartbeats in her ears, she watched Van stood in front of the class, his face a little pale.

Yukari turned around to look at her with wide excited eyes, a big grin plastered on her face.

'I told you he'd come today,' she whispered loud enough only for Hitomi to hear.

Mr Asahi turned to look at Van with a frown and a stern look on his face. He glanced at his watch before his narrowed eyes were back on the student in front of him.

'Young man,' he addressed Van in his drawling voice, 'do you know what time it is?'

'Yes, sir.'

The teacher waited for him to continue but Van didn't say anything else. Instead, he just held Mr Asahi's gaze unwaveringly with his eyes. The whole class watched the two of them in awkward silence.

'And you are late _because_?' the old man pressed, his mouth twitching.

'I overslept. And I didn't feel like having history lessons so early in the morning,' Van said casually. He completely ignored the look of astonishment on his teacher's face as he continued to stare at the flaring old man.

'Are you _listening_ to yourself, young man?' There was a threatening edge in Mr Asahi's voice now.

'I am not deaf, Mr Asahi,' Van replied, his voice calm and even if not a little rough and hoarse.

There were some stifled laughs coming from the students in the class who felt Van's reply to the teacher amusing, but most of them, including Hitomi, stared at him in shock.

 _What's gotten into him?_

She had never seen him act like this with a teacher before.

Mr Asahi regarded Van with a contemptuous look, obviously trying to keep his temper in check. He then let out a mighty harrumph and started writing on the blackboard again, the sound of chalk scraping the board was loud in the hushed classroom.

'Get to your seat,' he ordered without looking at his student.

Van obediently shuffled past him towards his seat, running a hand through his hair when Mr Asahi barked at him again.

'And wear your school uniform properly. Tuck in your shirt and put on your necktie.'

'Yes, sir,' Van muttered as he placed his bag on his desk.

His eyes suddenly flickered to Hitomi who had been staring at him the whole time. He blinked, his face softening a little when he realized she was watching him, and he gave her an uncertain smile where only one side of his mouth curved upwards.

Before Hitomi could return his smile, Van had already turned away from her, pulling out his chair and taking a seat as the bell marking the end of first period rang. The classroom was abruptly filled with sighs and cheers of relief as Mr Asahi yelled to the class to submit last week's homework.

'Hitomi, please collect everyone's homework and put them on my desk after school today,' the old teacher instructed as he started to walk out of the classroom.

'Yes, sir,' Hitomi replied with a sigh, quietly asking god why her name was chosen this time. Mr Asahi had a habit of calling out random names of his students at the end of class and giving them tasks to do.

'And you, Van,' Mr Asahi called out before he exited the classroom, 'I want to see you after school today.'

'Yes, sir,' Van managed a mumble, holding his head in his hand.

Hitomi watched him, wanting to talk to him but not really knowing how to start.

'Va–'

Before she could say his name, Van had already dashed out of the classroom with a hand clutched to his chest, the door banged loudly as he left.

Hitomi stared in surprise, her wide eyes slowly glancing at Yukari who looked equally shocked. She was watching Hitomi and Van since the moment Mr Asahi was out of sight, expecting to see some shy exchanges between the two people sitting behind her. But she didn't expect for Van to suddenly vanish like that.

'What's wrong with him?' Yukari asked, turning in her seat curiously.

Hitomi shook her head, still a little stunned.

'Don't know.'

She told herself that she would talk to Van properly when he gets back, but he only came back to class when it was already fifteen minutes into second period, not looking at anyone and ignoring the scowl on the teacher's face. Hitomi couldn't possibly talk to him without the teacher scolding her for not paying attention.

Van's behavior wasn't helping either. Throughout the following periods, he sat hunched at his desk, never once turning around to look at her or even tried to talk to her. It was making her feel as if he didn't really want to have anything to do with her, or anyone else for that matter.

By lunchtime, Hitomi was completely discouraged about trying to talk to him.

'He's gone again,' Yukari commented as she pulled her chair next to Hitomi's desk and opened her lunchbox. 'Where do you think he'd gone to?'

Hitomi pushed back her hair from her face and held her head in her hands in frustration. She stared at the empty seat in front of her.

'I don't know,' she mumbled. 'It's like he's avoiding me. Maybe I misread things last week,' Hitomi voiced out her thoughts. 'I mean, he was probably just being nice to me, you know? It doesn't mean he wants to talk to me now or feels something for me or anything like that.'

Yukari looked at her friend a little sympathetically.

'Oh, come on, Hitomi. I'm sure he's just nervous about this. I mean, he now knows you know about his feelings for you, right?' she said, placing an octopus-shaped sausage into Hitomi's lunchbox with her chopsticks.

'Well, not really. I told you that he didn't say anything about _liking_ me, remember?' Hitomi pointed out.

'Yeah, but still,' Yukari put down her chopsticks and started ticking off things on her fingers. 'He was concerned about you looking tired and not having enough sleep; you said he looked relieved when you told him _I'm_ the one dating Amano and not _you_ ; he said he liked listening to your voice; he gazed at you tenderly; he gave you his umbrella because he didn't want you to get sick if you walked in the rain; oh, and he held your hand while you were asleep.'

'Yukari, I told you I'm not really sure about him holding my hand part. It could've been just my imagination,' Hitomi said, popping the octopus-shaped sausage into her mouth. 'I really _do_ think he's avoiding me. He gave me a little smile when he arrived this morning, but… I don't know. After that, he didn't show his face to me again, not even once.'

Yukari sighed, feeling a little frustrated by her friend's pessimism.

'Hitomi, did you see how pale his face was?'

'I noticed he looked a little pale when he was about to be scolded by Mr Asahi this morning.'

'That's what you think? I think he's just not feeling well,' Yukari said, finishing the last of her lunch. 'I turned around to look at him a couple of times and he looked like he was either in pain or he was about to puke.'

Hitomi looked up at Yukari, feeling a little concerned now.

'Are you serious?'

'It could be my imagination, though,' Yukari shrugged as she got up from her chair to buy juice from the vending machine. 'Maybe he _is_ avoiding you.'

Hitomi watched Yukari walked out of the classroom, not knowing what to think.

.o.o.o.

When the final bell rang at the end of the school session, Hitomi quickly picked up the stack of History homework she had collected from everyone earlier and headed for the teachers' room. She had track practice today and she couldn't wait to get her body worked out and get her mind off everything.

'Hitomi, I'll head to the tracks first, alright?' Yukari called out.

'Okay, Yukari. See you there,' she replied as she walked out of the class, carefully avoiding the stream of eager students in the hallway.

She entered the teachers' room with a soft 'good afternoon' and silently placed the stack of homework on Mr Asahi's desk. The old man acknowledged her presence with a little nod as he busily worked on his laptop, not bothering to say thank you to her. She left him without a word, opening the door as quietly as she could when Mr Asahi called her name.

'Hitomi. Where's Van? I thought I told him to come see me after school?' he gruffly said without looking away from his laptop screen.

Hitomi looked at him uncertainly.

In her hastiness to get the History homework to the teachers' room, she didn't even notice if Van was still in his seat when she left the classroom. What should she say to her teacher? She wasn't sure if Van was still around or he had gone home already. Mr Asahi would surely flare up if she told him Van had already left the school grounds. And she would be the one receiving the old man's lecture in Van's stead about not following instructions.

'Uh, I'll go tell him to come and see you, Mr Asahi,' she finally said and left the room.

 _Like he's coming to see you, old man. I bet he's already on his way home now._

But when she reached her already deserted classroom, she saw Van was still in his seat, his head on his desk, pillowed by his arms.

 _Van's still here?_

Without a sound, Hitomi made her way to her desk, not really sure what to do. She stood there staring at Van, wondering if he was really sleeping.

She called out his name.

'Van?'

It didn't seem like he heard her. Or was he pretending not to hear her?

She came a little closer, putting a hand on his shoulder, shaking him a little.

'Van? Are you awake?'

Van finally stirred under her touch, waking up with a little jerk. He looked around the classroom as if expecting to see his classmates were still around, his eyes a little glazed. He seemed to realize the situation when he saw Hitomi standing beside his desk.

'School ended already?' he asked hoarsely, rubbing his face with his hands before running them through his messy hair.

'Yeah,' Hitomi answered, unable to look away from him. She cast her gaze elsewhere when she realized she was staring at him for far too long. 'Mr Asahi wanted to see you.'

Van stared blankly at her for a while, as if trying to make sense of her words.

'Oh,' he exclaimed softly. 'Yeah, he said that. I forgot.'

He stood up from his chair a little unsteadily, one hand holding his head, the other placed lightly on his desk, stabilizing himself.

Hitomi gave him a once over; he looked exactly like he did when he arrived late this morning.

'You better tidy up your uniform, Van. You know how much Mr Asahi despises untucked shirts. You'll get a one-hour lecture about the proper way to wear a school uniform if you go see him looking like this.'

Van looked down at his crumpled shirt, and then he looked up at the girl in front of him.

'You're right,' he agreed with a little smile, making Hitomi's heart skip a beat.

He started tucking in his shirt without much care before he sat himself on the edge of his desk, pulling out his carelessly rolled up school necktie from inside his slacks pocket.

Hitomi noticed his hands were trembling a little as he clumsily tied the tie around his collar.

Maybe Yukari was right. Now that she had a better look at him, he _was_ looking a little pale.

'Van, are you alright?' she asked, stepping a little closer to him to have a better look. 'You don't look so well.'

Van glanced at her briefly as he busied himself with the tie.

'Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just a little dizzy.'

'Did you catch a cold?'

He smiled again and gave her a small nod.

Hitomi stared at him with a horrified look on her face.

Yukari was right after all. He _did_ catch a cold. And Hitomi knew she was the one at fault.

'Oh no. It was my fault, wasn't it? You lent me your umbrella and I let you walk in the rain last Friday.'

'Don't worry about it, Hitomi. It wasn't your fault.'

'Yes, it was! Oh Van, I'm so sorry. I feel so bad now. Is there anything I can do to make up for it? Can I treat you to lunch? Or dinner? Oh, I know! I can do all your homework for a week?' Hitomi asked frantically.

'Hitomi, calm down. You don't have to treat me to anything. And I definitely won't let you do my homework. I told you it wasn't your fault,' Van said reassuringly as he undid the crooked knot he had just done and started to tie the necktie again.

Hitomi let out a defeated sigh.

'Okay,' she said softly, staring at her shoes. 'I'm sorry, Van.'

'You have nothing to be sorry about, Hitomi.'

She watched his hands tremble trying to tie the strip of cloth around his neck as a blanket of silence fell over them, the only sound in the room was the soft shuffling of Van's tie.

'Van?'

'Hm?'

'Were you avoiding me earlier?'

Van stopped what he was doing and looked up at Hitomi with concern in his eyes.

'What do you mean?'

She shifted on her feet uncertainly.

'Well, I tried to talk to you but you seemed like you didn't want anyone to bother you. And you were always barging out of class after every period.'

She heard Van sigh softly.

'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to act that way. It's just, my chest hurts every now and then, because of the fever. And I was feeling nauseous.'

'That was why you were running out of class in between lessons?'

Van nodded, looking a little embarrassed.

'Were you in pain?' Hitomi asked, concerned about him now and feeling so stupid for being self-centred and thinking he was avoiding her.

'Just a little. I feel a lot better now,' Van said, pulling at his knotted tie and smoothing it against his chest. He took in a deep breath and exhaled. 'I guess I'm ready to go now. I hope old man Asahi isn't in a very bad mood.'

Hitomi stared in horror at Van's finished knot. It was crooked, it was misshapen, it was absolutely awful.

'Do you even know how to properly tie a necktie, Van?' she asked with a disapproving look on her face.

'Actually, I don't,' he answered dismissively as he started to get off the desk.

'No, stay where you are,' Hitomi ordered in a firm voice, her hand flat on Van's chest causing him to fall back onto the desk. 'I will not allow you to go see Mr Asahi with such a horrible knot!'

She grabbed Van's tie and started unknotting it, unintentionally pulling him closer to her in the process.

Van looked at her, completely startled.

'Hitomi?' he rasped.

'Just stay put. I'll do it for you,' Hitomi instructed, paying her full attention to her hands and the crinkled necktie.

'Do you know that a tie is actually a noose that is upside down?' Van asked quietly after a while. He sounded a little nervous.

The feel of Van's breath on her face and the vibration of his rumbling voice made Hitomi realize how close she actually was to him. She looked up and her face was just inches away from his.

She stepped back clumsily in surprise, feeling her face getting hot. But her grip on his tie was firm, and she accidentally pulled him along with her, making him stumble forwards off the desk he was perched on, pushing her backwards against the desk behind her. If Van hadn't strongly placed his hands on either side of her against the desk to break his fall, he would have probably ended up being on top of her.

Hitomi looked up at Van in shock, her body paralyzed. She was immediately aware of his closeness; she could feel the heat radiating from his body.

'You're using the tie as a leash now,' Van said, his voice was so low she almost couldn't hear him. Somehow, his words made her blush even more.

'Sorry, I didn't mean to do that,' she breathed, trying to ignore the loud beatings in her ears.

Van didn't make any move to get away from her. Instead, he stared deep into Hitomi's wide eyes, before the gaze of his glazed amber ones lazily roamed around her face, memorizing it.

'You know, I dreamed of you a lot these past days. In those dreams, you were always going to leave me. I was afraid of that,' he said in a whisper, almost dreamily. 'I missed you, Hitomi.'

Hitomi blinked, not really sure if she was hearing him right.

'Van?'

Van's eyes fluttered wide when he realized what he had just said.

He pulled his hands away from the desk, releasing Hitomi from the cage he had unintentionally held her in as his body reflexively jerked away. But as Hitomi's grip on his tie was still pretty solid, it held him in place and he wasn't able to move away from her much. It seemed like he really _was_ on a leash.

Hitomi quickly loosened her hold on Van's tie, pushing him back a little and he obediently complied. He returned to sit on his desk, trying not to look at her and failing, obviously wishing she wouldn't notice his reddening face.

Blushing furiously, Hitomi continued to neatly knot the tie around Van's collar quietly, this time with a much bigger gap in between them, trying to ignore the feel of Van's eyes on her.

'You're pretty good at this,' Van commented casually, trying to lift the awkward feeling surrounding them at the moment. 'How come?'

Hitomi let out a soft, nervous laugh.

'I do this for my younger brother every morning before he goes to school. He's hopeless when it comes to tying a tie, much like you are,' she said with a soft giggle, but her eyes were still shyly avoiding looking at Van.

Carefully, she pushed the neat little knot she had done up to the hollow of Van's throat before tugging at it lightly.

'Alright. It's done now. See, it's so simple. It's not that hard.'

Hitomi smiled as she admired her work.

Before she could stop herself to think, she did the usual thing she would do after she had done tying her brother's necktie every morning; she slowly ran her hands down the neatly dimpled tie, smoothing it a few times against Van's chest and down to his torso.

She gasped in surprise when Van grabbed her hands in his, strongly but gently enough not to hurt her.

'Your hands, they are like my brother's… so soothing, so caring,' he whispered, again in that dreamy voice Hitomi had heard earlier, his eyes closed as he brought her hands to his chapped lips and softly kissed her fingers.

'Van!' Hitomi frantically called out his name as she didn't know what else to do. She was absolutely flustered by his unexpected actions, feeling the heat on her face and neck unbearable.

Once again, Van seemed to snap out of his dream-like state with a jerk, letting go of her hands abruptly, his wide eyes taking in the shocked, blushing girl in front of him.

'Hitomi…' he managed to say her name in a hoarse voice, looking away. 'I'm sorry... I'm acting a little strange, am I?' he said quietly, running his hand halfway through his hair and messing it up. 'That's why I hate getting a fever. It makes me delirious. It makes me do weird things, things that I usually don't have the courage to do.'

 _Like telling me you dreamed of me and you missed me? Like holding my hands and kissing them?_

Hitomi stared at Van's red face. Instead of voicing out her thoughts, she said:

'Like casually talking back to Mr Asahi this morning?'

Van let out an amused chuckle, trying to hide his embarrassed face with his hands.

'Yeah. I don't know what I was thinking. I wonder what he'll do to me later.'

Hitomi laughed lightly, feeling the awkwardness between them lifting again.

'Don't worry about it. The worst Mr Asahi would do is give you a lecture on manners. Everyone knows he likes to punish students with his boring lectures.'

'I hope you are right,' Van said with a nervous laugh, his russet eyes still not meeting hers.

Hitomi stared at the shy look on his face, and she couldn't help noticing how adorable it was. When she caught herself absentmindedly taking steps towards Van, hands reaching for him, she quickly unhooked Van's white umbrella at the side of her desk and handed it to him. She didn't think she could trust herself to not do anything to Van in that state.

'Here. Your umbrella,' she said a little too loudly, her arm outstretched in front of her. 'Thank you for lending it to me. I've caused you so much trouble.'

'Stop it, Hitomi. I told you it wasn't your fault,' Van said gently as he took the umbrella from her.

Hitomi glanced at the classroom clock, feeling a little alarmed when she realized she was already late for track practice.

'Van, I think I should go now. I have track practice today…' she said a little reluctantly. She didn't want to end their little meeting. It felt good talking to him after wanting to see him for so long.

'Yeah. I better go see Asahi, too.'

Hitomi waited for Van to start walking away but he just stood there staring at her. She felt herself starting to blush again.

'Well… I'm going now,' she said, taking her bag from her seat and starting to head for the classroom door. She felt like she was making a big mistake leaving Van there. 'See you next week, Van,' she quipped, feeling her feet like they were made out of lead as she dragged them across the classroom.

'Hitomi, wait!'

She whirled around at the urgent sound of Van's voice before realizing he had wrapped his hand around her wrist. He quickly let her go before she could say anything.

'Hitomi... are you free tomorrow evening?' Van asked, his hand was back in his hair, raking it.

Hitomi looked at him uncertainly.

'Well... I don't really have plans.'

'Then... do you want to go somewhere? With me?'

Hitomi watched Van nervously pulling at his necktie like it was choking him. She felt her own heart beating wildly against her ribcage.

'Yes, I would love to,' she heard herself say before she even realized what she was saying.

As if in a slow motion, she saw that gentle, heartwarming smile she had been longing to see form on Van's lips. She felt like she was soaring when she saw that soft look in his eyes; it was so tender she felt like running into his arms.

'Thank you, Hitomi,' Van said softly, still smiling at her. 'Then, tomorrow, let's meet up at the bus stop by the sea at six?'

'Yes, let's meet up there,' Hitomi agreed almost too excitedly.

She couldn't help smiling back at him as she made her way to the door, giving Van one last look as she left the classroom. On her way to track practice, she kept hearing Van's words echoing in her head.

'I'll wait for you, Hitomi.'

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

* * *

Next chapter:

 **King of Fanelia**

'This is Van, isn't it? With white wings…'


	3. Chapter 3: King of Fanelia

**Chapter 3**

 **King of Fanelia**

'This is Van, isn't it? With white wings…'

* * *

Hitomi had never thought that watching a man looking at the sea could be so fascinating.

She was in a cool shade of a big old tree right across the bus stop where she and Van had promised to meet. She stood a little bent over with a hand on the tree trunk and the other on her hip, catching her breath.

Just moments before, she had been running down the slope leading to the road by the seaside, cursing as she almost stumbled a few times running in her low-heeled shoes. She regretted not wearing a pair of sneakers instead, but they would look horrible with her light pink top and knee-length navy skirt.

She had been worried that she would be late for their meet-up; as she was running, her watch said she had only seven minutes until six, and she didn't want Van to wait for her for too long.

Hitomi let out a mighty sigh as she leaned against the tree, watching entranced at the man waiting for her by the sea.

Across the road, Van stood a little away from the deserted bus stop, facing the shimmering sea reflecting the setting sun. The cool breeze which carried along with it the salty scent of the sea blew about him, ruffling his dark hair and the blood-red shirt he was wearing.

The sight of him standing there against the vast, orange-tinged evening sky, watching the sparkling sea like a king overlooking his kingdom had Hitomi staring at his form in silence awe.

And there they were; the pair of white majestic wings spreading from Van's back; huge, protective and powerful, just like how Hitomi had always imagined them.

'Amazing…' she whispered to herself, her enchanted eyes unable to look away from him.

Van's imagined wings felt so real Hitomi almost convinced herself that he would fly away towards the distant pale moon up there in the sky before she could call out to him.

As if sensing her presence, Van turned around slowly, his amber eyes locking with Hitomi's green ones.

'Hitomi,' he said her name with a smile on his lips.

She couldn't help smiling back at the young man as she crossed the road to get to him.

'You're early,' she said when she reached him.

She checked her watch. It was three minutes to six. Strange how she felt like she had stood staring at Van for an eternity when she had only done so in just under two minutes.

Van shrugged, pushing his wind-swept hair out of his eyes.

'I just got here,' he said dismissively.

'You liar,' Hitomi said with a giggle.

'What were you doing standing over there?'

'Oh, I was running because I didn't want to be late and I was catching my breath and then I saw you and I was just a little awed by your wings–'

Hitomi quickly clapped her hands to her mouth, her wide eyes staring at Van. She didn't intend to say that out loud.

Van looked at her with that half-smile of his, amused.

'My wings?'

Hitomi vigorously shook her head.

'It's nothing,' she said with a little smile and started to walk quickly ahead of him along the pavement. 'Please ignore me and my silly words.'

'How can I possibly ignore you?'

Hitomi's face turned a slight shade of red at Van's words from behind her. She hastily continued to walk without saying anything.

'You're not going to tell me about these _wings_ of mine?' Van insisted. He playfully looked around behind him to see if there really were a pair of wings spreading out from his back.

Hitomi could hear the teasing note in Van's still raspy voice; she noticed it wasn't as hoarse as it was yesterday. She was glad to know that his health was getting better.

'So, where are we going?' Hitomi asked, trying to change the subject and hoping she didn't sound too flustered.

Van was still looking at her curiously as he easily got himself walking alongside her with his bigger stride, but he decided not to press on with the wings subject.

'Actually, Hitomi,' Van started, 'I forgot to ask you something yesterday.'

Hitomi gave him a curious sideway glance.

'Oh? What is it?'

'Do you like art?' he asked.

Hitomi stopped to think as Van followed suit.

'Do I like art?' she repeated, asking herself as she looked up at the darkening sky. She had never considered that question before. 'Yes, I think I do,' she contemplated. 'I mean, honestly, I don't know much about art, and I'm not good at it. Heck, I can't draw a stickman to save my life, but I know how to appreciate them.'

Her eyes went back to Van who was patiently watching her.

'Why? Are we going to a museum?' she asked.

'Sort of,' Van said as he started walking again along the pavement. 'We're crossing the road. You see that little staircase on the opposite side? We'll have to climb it.'

Hitomi looked at where he was pointing. Across the road, a narrow staircase made of stones winded its way up the hill, disappearing behind trees and shrubberies. It looked centuries-old, the steps covered in brown moss and fallen leaves. Hitomi looked at the stairs strangely. She had walked this road thousands of times before but she had never noticed the staircase up until Van had pointed it out to her just now.

'Where does it lead to?' she asked, feeling a little disconcerted by the look of the old, mossy staircase.

'A beautiful gallery,' Van answered simply. 'Come on, let's go,' he said as his hand naturally reached for Hitomi's and they crossed the road.

Hitomi couldn't help noticing how small her hand felt in Van's huge, callused one. Van didn't let go of her hand when they reached the bottom of the staircase. It seemed that he wasn't aware of what his hand was doing until he suddenly looked down at their intertwined fingers with wide, surprised eyes. The hand that just now was enveloping Hitomi's was now in his hair, nervously raking it. Silently, Van climbed the stairs and led the way.

'I never knew there was a gallery up this hill,' Hitomi said as they ascended the narrow stairs, every now and then her eyes would flick to Van's hand that had held hers earlier. She could still feel his warm, firm grip on hers.

'I didn't know about it either, until my brother told me about it,' Van said.

'Your brother?'

'Yeah, my older brother, Folken.'

Van stopped climbing the stairs and turned to face Hitomi. 'Actually, I'm taking you to see his art exhibition at the gallery today,' Van said, his eyes carefully watching the girl in front of him. 'Does that sound boring to you?' he asked.

'No! Not at all! I've never been to an art exhibition before, anyway,' Hitomi said earnestly, frantically waving her hands to show it was alright.

'Good to hear that,' Van chuckled softly as he continued his climb.

'So, your brother is a fine artist?' Hitomi asked in awe.

'Not really. At least, not a professional one. He has a regular job, works nine to five Monday to Friday, but he's passionate about art. He has his own studio at home where he does all his paintings, and this is his first solo art exhibition,' Van explained, holding away a wayward branch barring their way. He let it go once Hitomi had walked passed him.

'That's incredible, Van!' Hitomi exclaimed. 'Your brother must be as talented as you are.'

Van stopped climbing the stairs at her words.

'What do you mean?'

'I saw the doodles on your desk, Van. The cats you drew were really good.'

Van's hand was back in his hair.

'You saw them, huh?' he said sheepishly, clearly a little embarrassed by his little artwork on his school desk. 'I can draw but I'm not as good as Folken. He's way more talented than I am.'

Hitomi smiled as she started climbing up the stairs, getting further ahead of him.

'You're just being humble, I know,' she said cheerfully. 'I'm sure you're as good as he is.'

'I doubt that. His hands are a lot more skillful than mine.'

'His hands…' Hitomi heard herself repeat those words in a soft whisper. They somehow triggered something in her mind. She stopped in her tracks, turning around to look at Van who was a few steps behind her.

'Van, yesterday when you kis... ah, when you said my hands were like your brother's…'

Van looked up at Hitomi with an embarrassed look on his face. Hitomi was afraid he would dismiss what had happened yesterday when he was silent for a while. And then he started talking.

'I meant exactly what I said,' Van said in a slightly hoarse voice, the movement of his legs slowing down. 'Your hands… they give me the same feeling Folken's hands do.' His eyes flickered towards Hitomi's hands for a moment. 'Folken took care of me most of the time when I was little after my mother passed away, and the thing I remember most about him from that time was his caring, soothing hands. He was always there taking care of me. He would read to me every night, and I would watch fascinatedly at his animated hands acting out the characters. When it was time for bed, he'd tuck me in and stay by my side until I fall asleep. His hand would caress my hair. And there was a song he liked to whistle when he was putting me to sleep. I think... I heard it in a dream a few days ago...' Van trailed off, mostly talking to himself.

Hitomi watched him silently. She realized that this was probably the first time she had heard Van talk about his personal life, not that they talked a lot at school. But from the way he talked and from that nostalgic, almost sad look in his eyes, Hitomi could tell that Van did not talk about these things often.

'He must be a very loving brother,' Hitomi said softly, giving Van a small smile.

Van laughed lightly. 'He is, and he can be overbearing at times.'

'Come on, he can't be that bad,' Hitomi said.

'It was so bad this past week it drove me crazy,' Van said with genuine annoyance in his voice. 'I only had a mild fever and he was babying me way too much. He was treating me like I was actually dying. I was well enough and could've gone to school on Wednesday but he didn't let me. "You're still too weak to go to school, Van," he said. He went a little over the edge when he found out I sneaked out of bed to go to school yesterday.'

Hitomi looked at him in surprise.

'You sneaked out of bed just to go to school on a Friday, and while you were still sick too?' she asked, incredulous. 'You're weird, Van. If I were you, I'd listen to your brother. I would just stay in bed and get the whole week off. Who cares about school.'

'I couldn't help myself. I wanted to see you,' Van said softly, his eyes resting on her for a little while before he tore them away. 'Come on, let's get going. We're almost there,' he urged, continuing to climb the stairs.

Hitomi followed him silently, hoping she wasn't blushing too much. Van's words were making her feel warm from the inside.

After dozens more flight of steps, they reached the top of the staircase. Hitomi couldn't believe her eyes; in front of her was a beautiful trail with lush tree branches arching over the dirt path.

'What _is_ this place? It feels like I'm in a fairytale,' Hitomi said in a hushed voice, as if afraid that the whole thing would disappear at the sound of her voice. Her bright, shining eyes eagerly took in her surroundings. The tree-arched pathway made her feel so happy she felt like she was floating.

'You like it?' Van asked gladly, watching Hitomi marvel at the beauty of the natural arches. 'I found this place by accident. When Folken brought me to the gallery for the first time, he took me by the usual road; you can reach it by car using a small road on the other side of the hill. When I was here for the first time, I was exploring the compound of the gallery when I stumbled across the entrance of this path,' Van said, pointing towards the end of the arched pathway. 'It was initially covered by thick shrubs and branches, I guess that's probably why not a lot of people know about it. I followed this path, wondering where it would lead to. And I found the old staircase, and went down it. And I figured it leads to the road next to the sea,' Van explained as he continued walking. 'Come on. We'll see the gallery at the end of this path. It's just over there.'

Hitomi followed after Van, still unable to stop herself from looking up at the beautifully intertwined branches above her, the sunlight shimmering through the canopy of leaves, some of them gracefully falling to the ground, as if dancing to a rhythm only nature could hear.

Before she reached the end of the path, Hitomi stopped in her tracks again, sniffing the air.

'I think… I can smell the sea,' she said softly.

Van only smiled at her as he gestured for her to continue following him.

At the end of the arched pathway there was an open space with a little dirt trail leading away from the arches. It then split into two; one snaking to the right towards an old, beautiful, white building, and the other towards a wooden viewing deck built at the crest of the hill.

Hitomi walked slowly towards the viewing deck, her eyes were full of wonder as they took in the breathtaking view of the city down below, the pink and orange-tinged sky, the sun setting over the evening sea. It was like something out of a dream.

'This is so beautiful,' she said in an awe-laced voice, feeling the orange sun rays on her skin and the cool breeze blowing about her.

'Pretty, isn't it?' Van said, standing beside her. 'I knew you'd love this view.'

Hitomi smiled at him, her heart bursting with what she could only recognize as happiness. She turned around to look at the white building behind her.

'This must be the gallery,' she said knowingly. 'I never knew such a beautiful building existed here. I didn't even know I could climb my way up this hill.'

'It's like a whole different world up here,' Van said softly, looking out at the sea with his arms resting on the wooden fence of the viewing deck. 'Ever since I knew about this place, I've always come here whenever I feel like nothing is going my way.'

'So, this is like your personal haven?' Hitomi asked, turning around to see Van nodding. 'Is it alright for you to let me know about this place?'

'I _want_ you to know about this place,' Van said, pushing himself away from the fence and started walking towards the white building. 'Because I know it'll make you happy.'

Hitomi stared at Van's broad back as she tried to understand what he meant when he said that he wanted her to be happy. She walked slowly after him towards the gallery, taking in the beauty of the building. It was probably an old bungalow turned into a gallery but somehow, there was something majestic about it; the heavy, wooden double doors with brass knockers of the main entrance, the French windows lining either side of it.

A wooden easel stood at the entrance of the building displaying a painted poster.

The image of the poster looked much like the view Hitomi saw from the viewing deck just moments before, but instead of the orange-tinged evening sky and sea, the poster was painted with a view of a vast, clear, blue sky dusted with wispy white clouds, mighty warships knifed their way through the sparkling sea. The city was replaced with buildings that seemed a little out of the world that Hitomi knew; watch towers, castles and flagstone pavements.

She read out loud the words written in white against the blue sky.

'Memory of a Dream: An Art Exhibition.'

'I see you are here, Van,' came a deep voice from the opened double doors.

Hitomi whirled around and was met with a very tall man with broad shoulders looking down at her. She couldn't help staring at him; his greyish blue hair should seem jarring to her, but somehow it looked perfectly natural on him. His eyes bore through her for a moment before a small smile appeared on his lips, softening his sharp, prominent features.

'And you must be Miss Hitomi,' he said warmly, extending a multi-coloured acrylic-stained hand towards her.

Hitomi reached out and her small hand was completely lost inside the fold of his firm handshake. She noticed curious little red marks on his hand that she knew weren't any kind of paint; they were nail marks where someone had dug his nails deep into his skin in a very strong grip.

'I am Folken, Van's older brother. Pleased to meet you, Miss Hitomi.'

'I'm pleased to meet you too… Mr Folken,' Hitomi said rather awkwardly.

'Please, come on in. The other guests are yet to arrive. I can give you a tour of this lovely gallery, if you don't mind,' Folken said politely, turning his black-suited body towards the short hallway leading to the first exhibition room, a long arm extended in a welcoming gesture.

'Thank you,' Hitomi said quietly and walked along the hallway. Behind her she heard Van hissed at his brother.

'You don't have to be so stiff with politeness, Folken.'

'Stiff with politeness? Why, I'm being my usual polite self, Van,' Folken replied briskly, walking in an easy stride with his hands clasped behind his straight back.

Van glanced at him with a smirk on his face.

'Well, you're cranking it up a notch today,' he commented.

'Isn't that only natural? After all, Miss Hitomi is here. She is a guest of mine and a friend of yours. Or should I say, she is a _special_ friend of yours?'

Folken smiled in amusement at how red his brother's face had become just at his mere words. In front of him, Hitomi walked silently with her head bowed slightly, trying hard not to turn around to look at the bickering brothers.

Van cleared his throat.

'Is Merle here?' he asked suddenly, obviously trying to change the subject.

Hitomi _did_ turn around to look at Van when he said that.

 _Merle? That suspiciously sounds like a girl's name._

Folken nodded, gesturing his hand towards the end of the hallway they were walking along.

'Yes, she's in the spare room on the other side of the building, along with my two darling girls.'

Hitomi's eyes snapped to Folken, unable to hide the surprise in them.

 _Along with his two darling girls?_

'Let me go fetch them,' Van said a little eagerly, his feet were already taking him several steps ahead of Hitomi and Folken. 'I'll be back in a second, Hitomi. I'm sure you'll love them,' he said with a rare childish grin. 'Please bear with my brother's overbearing politeness in the meantime,' he added, shooting Folken a pointedly look, who, of course, didn't miss it.

'Well, it is better to be polite than to be rude,' the taller man said. 'Isn't that right, Miss Hitomi?'

Van stopped in his tracks.

'Are you trying to say I'm being rude, Folken?' Van retorted heatedly.

Folken glanced at him with a smile.

'I didn't say anything of that sort, did I, Van?'

Hitomi finally let out a giggle at their banter.

'You two really get along well,' she remarked.

'Who would get along with this old man?' Van said with an indignant huff. 'Anyway, I'll go get the girls. I'll be back, Hitomi,' he said before dashing off and disappearing around the corner at the end of the short hallway.

'Mr Folken, who are these girls Van wants me to meet?' Hitomi asked anxiously as soon as Van was out of sight.

Folken smiled at her. 'You'll see.'

They entered a small, brightly lit room with a doorway leading to the next exhibition room on the opposite wall. There were two paintings in the room; a smaller one hung on the wall on Hitomi's left still draped with a white cloth, and a two-by-four, acrylic on canvas hung on the wall on Hitomi's right. She walked towards it slowly, her eyes staring at the painting in wonder.

She gazed at the two beautiful cat women with leopard spots on their shoulders down to the back of their thighs, apparently performing a song on a small stage. One had beautiful long golden hair, while the other had silver, their long tails curved behind them to form a heart shape. Heads tilted with sultry smiles on their faces, they languidly stood back-to-back with lilac chiffon shawls draped on each of their outstretched arm, their sharp cat eyes staring deeply into Hitomi's.

'These are Eriya and Naria, my two darling girls,' Folken said.

Before Hitomi could ask him what he meant, she heard a soft mewling coming from behind her.

Van was making his way towards them, a little brown cat with blue eyes cradled in his arms as two elegant cats sauntered after his feet; they were beautiful Bengal felines, one golden and the other silver, walking in the elegant way only cats could.

'Ah, here they are,' Folken said, picking up the two cats into his arms. 'Miss Hitomi, meet Naria and Eriya.'

'They're gorgeous,' Hitomi exclaimed in awe, smiling at the sight of the wonderful cats as she gingerly patted them. They seemed to like her touch on them. She glanced up at the painting again.

 _So these are Mr Folken's darling girls._

'And this is Merle,' Van came up to her, gesturing at the brown cat perched on his shoulder. Unlike Eriya and Naria, Merle watched Hitomi with wary eyes that were unabatedly judging her. The cat hissed at her when she tried to pat her.

'Aw, Merle doesn't seem to like me so much,' Hitomi said as she pulled back a hand, a little crestfallen.

'She likes you, Hitomi, don't worry about it. Merle acts this way when she meets new people. Most of the time, anyway,' Van said, scratching the cat behind the ears. 'Be nice to Hitomi, Merle,' he said gently to the cat with a laugh. 'Have you seen Folken's painting of her?'

'I was about to show her that one,' Folken said as he walked towards the covered painting on the opposite wall. He pulled the white cloth away to reveal a painting of a cat girl in a yellow dress, her brown skin a stark contrast to her light pink hair; a humanoid version of Merle.

She sat on a carved wooden chair by an opened window with her legs tucked underneath her, her elbow resting on the window sill, her chin cradled in her hand. Her face was showered in pale silver moonlight, her big shining blue eyes stared into the distant night sky which was bejeweled with millions of stars.

'Merle looks so adorable,' Hitomi gushed, a warm feeling entering her heart. She looked back at the painting of Eriya and Naria before her eyes met Folken's. 'Just by looking I can tell that you painted these with love, Mr Folken.'

'I did. After all, Merle, Eriya and Naria are family. They are important to me and to Van,' Folken said with apparent fondness.

'Ah Folken, there you are,' a voice suddenly called out from the hallway.

A tall man with droopy eyes walked towards them with a smile, his long dark hair tied in a loose ponytail, leaving wavy bangs framing his face, his round spectacles glinting. Folken put down the two cats he was holding to shake the man's hand as Merle jumped from Van's arm, joining the two older cats circling around their legs.

'Van, you're here too, I see,' his face lit up at the sight of the younger brother. 'It's been a while since I last saw you. I'm getting pretty sick of only looking at your brother's mug these past few weeks,' he joked with a laugh. 'I hope you're still doing your carving work? It'll be a big waste of talent if you're not.'

Van rubbed the back of his neck uncertainly.

'Yeah, a little,' he mumbled, ignoring the surprise look on Hitomi's face.

'I didn't know you do carvings too?' Hitomi asked in admiration.

'And who is this beautiful young lady?' the man asked when his eyes rested on Hitomi, one of his bushy eyebrows raised. 'Not a lady friend of Folken, I'm sure. I doubt any girl would be able to get through his wall of passionate obsession with his art and his cats,' he contemplated mostly to himself, looking at Hitomi from top to bottom. 'You must be Van's girlfriend then,' he concluded in a matter of fact fashion.

Hitomi felt her face reddening.

'Ah, actually, Mr …'

'Oh, how rude of me. I haven't introduced myself to you,' the man said as he offered her his hand. 'I am Dryden, a business friend of Folken in the art world.'

'Nice to meet you, Mr Dryden. I'm Hitomi, Van's… friend from school,' Hitomi said a little uncertainly.

The smirk on Dryden's face clearly showed he believed her to be more than just a friend to Van.

'May I talk to these two brothers for a while, Miss Hitomi? There's something I need to discuss with them,' he asked.

'But Dryden–'

'It's okay, Van,' Hitomi interrupted and turned to face the tall man. 'Yes you may, Mr Dryden. Don't worry about me, Mr Folken. I can look around on my own,' she said to Folken with a smile when she saw he was about to protest.

'Thank you for your understanding, Miss Hitomi,' Dryden said with a sweet smile. 'This will only take a while. I will return these brothers to you as soon as possible.'

'Don't hesitate to pull off the covers on the paintings in the next rooms, Miss Hitomi,' Folken added as Hitomi walked towards the doorway to the next exhibition room.

She was alone in the next room, looking around at the two draped paintings when she realized the little brown cat had followed her, although it kept its distance, looking up at Hitomi with wary eyes.

'You decided to keep me company, Merle?' she asked, laughing at how fidgety the cat was. The cat meowed as she walked about the room. 'Now, which one should I uncover first?' Hitomi asked to no one. The one to her right was a big painting, and the one on her left was smaller. She decided to unveil the smaller one first.

Carefully, she pulled the white cloth off the painting.

A beautiful woman in an off-shoulder white dress stood ankle-deep in a lake surrounded by dark mountains, staring up at the full moon. Her long dark hair dancing in the wind, contrasting with her huge white wings which glowed in the moonlight.

'It's an angel…' Hitomi whispered, her eyes taken in by the white wings.

Slowly, her eyes glanced at the artwork label pasted on the wall next to the painting. She read out the title in a quiet voice.

'This painting is called "Mother",' she said, looking down at Merle who had been sitting still by her feet for a while now, watching her curiously. 'Is this Van and Mr Folken's mother, Merle?' she asked the cat although she knew she wouldn't get an answer. The cat meowed at her before starting to lick her paw.

'I take that as a yes,' Hitomi said with a smile, her eyes were back on the beautiful dark-haired woman. 'It's an angel in heaven, then.'

She started towards the bigger painting on her right, wondering what kind of painting the white cloth was covering.

She let out a gasp as the cloth fell at her feet. It felt like a dejavu. She had seen a similar sight earlier, when she stood staring at Van looking out at the sea while he waited for her.

In the painting, a dark-haired man stood at the rocky crest of a hill with his huge white wings spread to their fullest span, his figure a commanding silhouette against the orange sky as he watched the last rays of the evening sun disappear behind a mountain range. The sleeve of the man's red tunic barely covered the dark blue tattoos on his left upper arm.

The wings were exactly how Hitomi had always imagined them spreading from Van's back; their magnificence and grandeur, the way they glowed in the twilight. To see them right before her eyes, Hitomi could barely handle the wave of emotions rolling over her. It didn't matter that it was just a painting; to her, they were real. She didn't know how, but Folken had realized her imagination.

Hitomi reached out a hand towards the painting, wanting to caress the white wings, but stopped short with her fingers less than an inch away from the canvas.

'I see you're a little more interested in this one, Miss Hitomi.'

Hitomi was so entranced by the painting she didn't hear Folken coming in some time ago.

'This is Van, isn't it? With white wings…' she said in a hushed voice, still wasn't able to peel her eyes off the painting.

'It is the king,' Folken answered quietly.

Hitomi turned to look at him, a little puzzled. Her eyes followed Folken's hand as he motioned towards the artwork label next to the painting. Her eyes widened when she saw the title Folken had given his painting.

'King of Fanelia.'

As the words left her lips, she couldn't help feeling like she had heard those words before.

 _My dream. In the dream I had at the library, Van was a king. King of Fanelia._

She turned her wide eyes to Folken, who was watching her intently.

 _But how did…? Why would Mr Folken…?_

'Fanelia is not a real place... isn't it?' she asked slowly.

'I don't think so.'

Hitomi stared at Folken a while longer before her eyes were back on the painting, on the white wings.

'Mr Folken, how did you come up with this name for your painting?'

Slowly, Folken came closer towards the painting, touching the acrylic of the white wings with his hand that had the deep nail marks on it.

'I heard it from someone else's dream.'

'Someone else's?'

'Yes. I heard it from Van's dream.'

'Van's?' Hitomi asked curiously.

'He was sick this past week. While I was taking care of him, he kept having nightmares. He was talking in his sleep. I couldn't help being curious about the things he said. And they conjured up fantastic images in my head,' Folken said, admiring the painting like it was his first time seeing it. He turned to look at Hitomi. 'Dreams are great, Miss Hitomi. At least to me. They are a great source of inspiration for my art.'

Hitomi stared at the redness of the shirt the King of Fanelia was wearing in the painting. Somehow, it reminded her of blood and rust.

'What did Van say in his sleep?' she asked.

'I really shouldn't let you know that he talked in his sleep. But I guess, he wouldn't mind if he doesn't know that I told you,' Folken said with a small chuckle. 'He mumbled about white wings, and he said he was King of Fanelia. And he called out your name, Miss Hitomi. He was pleading for you not to leave him.'

Hitomi stared at the painted sunset.

 _Somehow, Van was dreaming of the things that I dreamed about when I fell asleep at the library._

She _did_ say things out loud when she was asleep at the library. Van confirmed it when he left the library that rainy afternoon, saying to her that he was not an angel nor the King of Fanelia. But she didn't think he would _dream_ about it.

She also remembered what Van had told her yesterday, when he was acting strange, saying that he dreamed of her leaving him, and that he missed her. Just thinking about it made her heart beat faster.

'You can have this painting, Miss Hitomi,' Folken suddenly said.

Hitomi looked at the tall man again, not really sure if he was joking or being serious.

'What? No, Mr Folken…'

'Please, I insist.'

Hitomi cast a glance at the painting, at the black-haired man in red.

'Has Van seen this?' she asked.

Folken shook his head, a smirk forming on his lips.

'No, I don't think so. He has seen the others, except for this one. He wouldn't be too pleased about it.'

'Why not?' Hitomi asked, puzzled.

'He doesn't like being the subject matter of my paintings.'

Just as Folken had finished saying that, his younger brother came sauntering into the room with a slightly annoyed look on his face.

'Hey, Hitomi. Sorry I got caught up with Dryden's antics. If I'd known what he was going to talk about with me just now I would've just ignored–'

Van stopped talking midway as his eyes caught sight of the painting in front of him. From the change of expression on his face, Hitomi could tell he recognized the person in the painting.

'Folken, dammit, I told you–'

'Oh, I think I hear the guests arriving. Please excuse me, Miss Hitomi, Van,' Folken said with a sly smile and a slight bow as he left the two of them rather hurriedly.

Van stared after him with a scowl on his face. Cautiously, Hitomi stepped towards him.

'I think this is beautiful,' she said, glancing at Van to see if he was really angry.

Van didn't say anything. He just kept on staring at the painting with a displeased look on his face.

'Mr Folken said I can have it.'

Van whipped his head around, almost disbelieving what she had just said.

'What? This painting? Why would you even want it?' he said like a mystified child.

'Because it's beautiful. And it has you in it. And your beautiful wings,' Hitomi reasoned almost teasingly. She liked seeing this rare, childish side of Van.

Van started to make his way out of the room, shaking his head in disbelief.

'How can you tell that's me? You can't even see that guy's face. And why would I have wings anyway? I'm not an angel. Where the hell did Folken even get the idea from?'

Hitomi smiled in amusement, listening to Van ranting on about how Folken was always doing things to spite him.

 _Your brother got the idea from your dream, which in a way, I guess, was my dream too._

Smiling, Hitomi took one more glance at the painting of the King of Fanelia before following him out of the room.

'Wait for me, Van!'

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

* * *

Final Chapter

 **A Collision of Fate**

'I was worried I wouldn't find you. I didn't even know your name.'


	4. Chapter 4: A Collision of Fate

**Chapter 4**

 **A Collision of Fate**

'I was worried I wouldn't find you. I didn't even know your name.'

* * *

Hitomi and Van stood side by side with their arms resting on the fence of the wooden viewing deck built on the crest of the hill in front of the gallery, their elbows slightly touching. Both of them pretended not to notice the little warmth they felt at the tip of their elbows, although they were so conscious of the little touch.

It was already night time. Up in the sky, the scattered stars were twinkling to the heartbeat of a faraway universe.

Hitomi sighed longingly as she stared up at the sparkling heavens. Pretty night skies always made her feel nostalgic.

'Hey, Hitomi. Do you remember the first time we met?'

Van's raspy voice pulled Hitomi out of her train of thoughts. She glanced sideways and realized Van was looking up at the heavens too.

 _The first time we met?_

The truth was Hitomi couldn't really remember when the first time she met Van. She had a memory of talking to him at the beginning of the school year, but she couldn't confidently say that the memory was real. It felt like it was something her mind concocted not too long ago. But she did remember the moment when she was actually fully aware of Van; that one time during Japanese class when the teacher asked him to read a short poem, and he had read it like he had written it. His voice at that time felt like it was softly calling out to her, and she felt it intertwining inside of her. That was the moment Hitomi realized she had a thing for Van's voice. It was so calming to her. She could listen to him for hours, if only he would talk more at school.

She sneaked a little glance in Van's way again. He had his chin cradled in his hand, his eyes still on the bejeweled night sky. The night breeze ruffled his dark hair.

'The first time we met… I think… was it during our first class on the first day of school?' Hitomi replied without any confidence after she had given up trying to remember.

Van chuckled, shaking his head as he turned to look at her. Hitomi couldn't help noticing how different he looked at night. He seemed a little more relaxed under the soft white light that showered the viewing deck.

'I knew you wouldn't remember,' Van said with a half-smile. 'No, we didn't meet during our first class. I wasn't even in school the first two days of the first week.'

'What?! You weren't? How come?' Hitomi asked in shock. So, was that memory she had of talking to Van at the beginning of the school year really was just some fabricated memory?

'I don't really remember why anymore. My best guess is I just wasn't up for school,' Van said with a shrug. He swiftly pushed his hair out of his eyes when a sudden cool breeze blew their way.

Hitomi closed her eyes as she breathed in the cool air. She could smell the scent of the sea in it.

'You skipped school, huh? No wonder I don't remember seeing you.'

'I guess. But I did come to school on the second day. After school session ended, that is.'

Hitomi cracked her eyes open, turning to look at Van with an amused smile on her face.

'What? Why?'

Van moved a little bit away from Hitomi to stretch his arms above his head. Hitomi was surprised at how conscious she was of the lost warmth at the tip of her elbow when Van moved away from her. She wished he hadn't.

'I wanted to get some fresh air that afternoon. And Merle was driving me crazy because I hadn't taken her for a walk in a while,' Van explained as he moved back to where he originally stood next to Hitomi, only a little bit closer this time.

Hitomi tried to pretend like it didn't matter but she couldn't stop herself from darting a glance or two at her shoulder which was more or less crushed against Van's upper arm. She quickly looked away when Van suddenly turned to look at her.

'So you walk your cat, huh,' she said, trying to act like her heart wasn't threatening to explode.

'More like _she_ walks _me_. I have to follow her to wherever she wants to go,' Van lamented with a shake of his head. 'That was how I met you, by the way.'

Hitomi whipped her head around in confusion.

'What do you mean?'

'That day when I skipped school and took Merle out for a walk in the afternoon, she happened to lead me to school. She was really hyper that day, I could barely catch up with her,' Van said with a hint of annoyance in his raspy voice. 'I really didn't want to be anywhere near school but Merle ran straight for the school field. I had to run after her. That was when I saw the school track team at the field.'

'That was probably when the track team was having the tryouts for first-years,' Hitomi pointed out slowly, her brows furrowed as if trying to remember something.

'I guess you're right,' Van agreed. 'By that time, I've finally caught Merle in my arms. I was watching the track team tryouts while trying to catch my breath, and out of the blue, Merle scratched me, jumped out of my arms, went through a hole in the broken wire fence and ran straight for the track where the kids were running at full speed,' Van shook his head again like he still couldn't believe it. 'I really don't know what got into her that day. Merle usually wasn't that hyper. Anyway, it was a good thing that the hole in the fence was man-sized, so I slipped through and ran after Merle, and I–'

Van stopped talking abruptly when Hitomi let out a loud gasp.

'It was _you_!' Hitomi yelled out suddenly as realization dawned on her.

Van stared at her for a moment, a little surprised, and then he started laughing.

'You remember now, Hitomi?' he asked in between laughter.

'Of course I remember! It was _you_!' Hitomi yelled again, her eyes wide in disbelief. 'You were the guy who crashed into me while I was setting my time for the tryouts!' Hitomi was shaking her head again and again. 'I can't believe it was you, Van. I swear, that guy– _you_ –appeared out of nowhere and I couldn't stop running in time and we collided! What were you _thinking_ , Van?!' Hitomi yelled like the incident happened just a moment ago.

'Like I said, Hitomi. I was running after Merle. By the time we collided, she was more than halfway across the field,' Van said sheepishly, running a hand through his hair. 'I don't think I said sorry to you back then because I was so worried about Merle getting away.'

'Yeah, you didn't,' Hitomi said somewhat curtly.

'Thanks for the confirmation,' Van laughed. 'I _do_ remember you calling me a big jerk as I was running across the field.'

'I did?'

'Yeah, but it's justified, I guess. I deserved it for not saying sorry to you.'

Hitomi let out a sigh.

 _So it was Van._

For a long time, she had been wondering who it was that had crashed into her that day. He seemed so mysterious as no one in the track team recognized him, and it took her a while to finally decide that he was just some random guy trespassing the school grounds.

'It all happened like lightning. You crashed into me, and then you were already up and running across the field,' Hitomi recounted. 'I didn't even get a proper look at your face. All I could remember about you was the red shirt you were wearing at that time.'

'I think this is the very same shirt I wore that day,' Van said, chuckling as he pulled at the red shirt he was wearing.

Hitomi stared at the redness of his shirt, suddenly reminded of Folken's painting of Van with his wings spread.

'But I remember _you_. I remember the look on your face when you fell down on the track,' Van started saying again in a quieter voice. 'Your face kept flashing in my mind after that, and I was worried if I had hurt you.'

Hitomi blinked as she heard Van let out a long sigh.

'So I went to school the next day, hoping that I'd find you somehow. I wanted to apologize to you, and to check if you were okay,' Van said softly followed by another little sigh. 'You know, I was surprised, and very glad, when I found out that we were in the same class. It saved me the trouble of looking for you all over school. I was worried I wouldn't find you. I didn't even know your name.'

Van turned to face Hitomi who was looking at him with wide eyes.

'But when I approached you, you didn't seem to realize I was the one who ran into you. You started talking to me like I did nothing wrong to you. You told me your name, and asked for mine,' Van said, his voice was getting quieter and quieter.

Hitomi noticed that he had gone into that same dream-like state he was in yesterday at school, when he told her he missed her, when he kissed her fingers, when he didn't hold back from saying what was truly in his heart.

She went stock-still when she felt Van's warm fingers dancing against her temple before he pushed back her wind-blown hair out of her eye, tucking it behind her hot ear.

'And I was so taken in by your voice, Hitomi… by you. At that moment when you asked for my name, I'd forgotten what I had wanted to say to you that day… and until now, I'd never found the right time to bring up the thing that happened at the track and say sorry to you…'

'It's… alright, Van. I don't care about it anymore…' Hitomi said almost in a whisper, her eyes searching Van's glazed ones.

She realized that her words had pulled Van out of his dream-like state when his hand that had been lovingly caressing her hair started to falter, his eyes becoming wider and clearer. But before Van could withdrew his hand away from her, Hitomi grabbed his fingers with her cold ones and held his hand close to her heart.

Van stared at her with a look of utter surprise.

Hitomi couldn't understand what her body was doing; she was surprised herself, but she didn't want to let his hand go. She felt him relax his tensed arm before he took a small step closer towards her. He then gently laced his long fingers with Hitomi's, their hands becoming one.

Slowly, with her trembling hand that was not held captive by the young man staring deep into her eyes, Hitomi reached up to touch Van's forehead, brushing aside his hair. Her cold palm burned against Van's hot skin.

'You still have a fever, Van…' she managed to say in a whisper, her eyes unable to look away from his russet ones, her heartbeat sounding so loud in her ears. 'That's why you're acting weird again…'

She finally looked away, dropping her hand to her side, trying to make sense of what was happening.

'Hitomi…'

Van's voice sounded so close.

'I think… I like you. I like you a lot, Hitomi.'

Hitomi stood stunned as her gaze met Van's clear eyes once more. The wind had stopped blowing for a while now, and all she could hear was the sound of the crickets, the fast beatings of her heart never ceasing in speed. She could see that Van was aware of what he was saying. He wasn't in that dreamy state. He was fully aware of himself.

'Van…'

He leaned down and touched his forehead with Hitomi's, his eyes closed as if in a prayer.

'I just wanted to let you know. You don't have to say anything,' Van said softly. Hitomi could feel his breath on her face.

He finally let go of Hitomi's hand and took a step back, placing his arms on the wooden fence once again, his eyes back on the night sky.

Hitomi didn't know what to say or think. She just stared dumbfounded at the young man standing next to her; his touch still lingered, dancing around wildly in her dazed mind. She didn't expect to hear that from him so suddenly, although she had a vague idea that Van probably had feelings for her...

She knew she should do something, say something, at least, but her mind failed her. She was suddenly having doubts. What was her feelings towards Van? All this while, what did she think of him? She had never confirmed with herself about her feelings towards him. Did she really like him? Wasn't it just plain admiration?

 _But if not, why do my heart beat like crazy whenever I'm with him, whenever we touch? Why do I miss him when I don't see him?_

At the moment, Hitomi's mind was as blank as a white sheet of paper.

 _Oh god, I can barely think._

Van glanced at her uncertainly when she stayed silent for a long while, just staring at him. Through her thoughts that were crisscrossing in her chaotic mind, Hitomi could see something in his eyes, something that made her feel sad. She didn't like Van having that look in his eyes. She wanted him to regard her with that soft look like he did when they were at the library, with that gentle, heartwarming smile of his that she had seen not enough times.

Her mind was slowly clearing up. She realized now she wanted to see more of that. That she wanted to know more about him.

That she didn't want him to let her go.

That she didn't want to let him go.

'It's getting late,' Van said quietly as he looked away. 'Let's go home, Hitomi.'

Hitomi felt her heart broke when she heard Van's voice; how it sounded so crestfallen and disappointed. She knew he was the one who said she didn't have to say anything, but just by looking, she could tell he was hoping. Hoping that she would say something back to him.

'Wait… Van…' Hitomi called out softly before Van could leave the viewing deck.

Van turned around slowly, his eyes not meeting hers.

Hitomi held out her hands to him then, a small smile forming on her lips.

'Take my hands?' she asked with a slight tilt of her head, her smile becoming wider when she saw the confused look on Van's face.

'Van…' she started again. 'I… might feel the same way about you, too.'

The confused look on Van's face was slowly replaced with a look of absolute disbelief and happiness and joy as he finally let out a sigh of relief, his smile matching Hitomi's which was getting wider and wider.

'Hitomi…' he said her name again, striding back towards her, that gentle, heartwarming smile on his face never vanishing.

Van reached for Hitomi's hands before gently pulling her into his warm embrace. He held her for a long while, not saying anything, but at the same time, Hitomi felt like he was telling her everything. She felt him tremble in her arms as he let out a shuddering breath of relief.

'Van…'

Hitomi felt Van's arms tightened around her when she said his name, as if he was afraid that she would vanish without a trace if he let her go. Hitomi closed her eyes, savouring the warmth that enveloped her. In the eyes of her now calm mind, she saw them; the pair of white wings spreading from Van's back, beautiful, magnificent, majestic, like nothing she had ever seen.

She felt them softly, gently, protectively close around her, covering her from whatever harm there may be in this world, and she had never felt safer.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

*** End ***

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Hello! I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you, thank you very much to everyone who reads Memory of a Dream (and also Take My Hands). I feel so relieved that I've finally finished writing this; it has been sitting in my Drafts folder for almost two years, I thought I would never finish it. But it's finally done!

I initially started writing Take My Hands (and eventually, Memory of a Dream) because of the original Japanese voice actors of Van and Hitomi (Seki Tomokazu and Sakamoto Maaya, respectively). I love their voices so much; both are great voice actors and both have very good singing voices. That's why in these stories, Van and Hitomi are very conscious of each other's voices.

Anyway, I hope I'll get to write more of Van and Hitomi in the future, but as for now, I'll say goodbye to them. Until we meet again! :)


End file.
